Alexandre Dossin - Dmitri Kabalevsky: Piano Sonatas (Complete) (2009)

Performed on this recording by Alexandre Dossin, First Prize and Special Prize winner at the 2003 Martha Argerich International Piano Competition, Kabalevsky’s highly virtuoso Piano Sonata No. 2 represents the peak of the composer’s writing for solo piano. It is coupled with the early Sonata No. 1, in which the influence of Prokofiev is seldom far away, the bitter-sweet Sonata No. 3 and the two crisply neo-classical Sonatinas.

The Naxos label is perhaps at its best in reviving composers like Dmitry Kabalevsky; figures, perhaps associated with a national school, whose music stands apart from the grand trends of the twentieth century yet is marked by craftsmanship in which one can find undiminished enjoyment. In its day, the piano pieces heard here attracted no less an admirer than Vladimir Horowitz. “Not the least of their attractions,” notes annotator Richard Whitehouse, “is the acuity with which they reflect the spirit of the time without venturing into overtly radical or inherently reactionary musical territory.” Kabalevsky owed a debt to Prokofiev, especially in the early Piano Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 6, but his voice is distinctive. He adheres to traditional tonality, but the structures of the individual movements, except in the two little sonatinas that round off the album, owe little to the neo-classical idea. Instead Kabalevsky breaks up the outer movements into well-wrought sections that often reach a peak of considerable virtuosity. The most serious piece here is the Piano Sonata No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 45, which reflects the wartime conditions under which it was composed in 1945. Granted that it is not on a level with Shostakovich’s response to the war, but the contrast between the chilly melancholy of the central movement and the formal, resolute speed of the finale is reminiscent of late Beethoven. The graceful Piano Sonata No. 3 in F major, Op. 46, is entirely different in mood and in many places brings to mind Kabalevsky’s only really well-known score, The Comedians. Brazilian-American pianist Alexandre Dossin surmounts the technical difficulties of these works with aplomb. A professor at the University of Oregon School of Music, he may have inspired his students to get to know the keyboard music of Kabalevsky. It is ideally suited for student recitals at all levels, for the two sonatinas make only moderate technical demands.

Review by James Manheim, Allmusic.com

Although Richard Whitehouse’s program notes accurately pinpoint Prokofiev’s influence on Kabalevsky’s youthful First piano sonata, late Scriabin often lurks behind some of the music’s harmonic ambiguity and impassioned dynamic surges. In fact, the slow movement’s gorgeous chord voicings and gentle melodic polyphony wouldn’t be out of place in a Ned Rorem sonata! With all of that, a vibrant composing personality makes itself felt. By contrast, Kabalevsky’s Second and Third sonatas (respectively dating from 1945 and 1946) are formally tighter and better “stage-managed” pianistically, yet are more derivative from a creative standpoint. However, in the right hands (Vladimir Horowitz’s, for example), they sound like near-masterpieces and Alexandre Dossin’s well-drilled fingers emphasize musical considerations over virtuoso effect.

He downplays the percussive drive in the Second sonata Presto assai’s motoric piano writing by emphasizing melodic shapes and long lines, and does the same with the Third sonata’s spiky Allegro giocoso. At the same time, the little Sonatinas’ fast movements are appropriately incisive and aggressive. The distant ambience lacks warmth and depth yet preserves a concert-hall perspective from which you can assess Dossin’s strong powers of projection. Since Artur Pizarro’s comparable, albeit better engineered 1994 Collins Classics Kabalevsky sonata cycle disc is no longer available, Dossin has the field to himself.

Review by Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Tracklist:

Dmitri Kabalevsky (1904-1987)

Piano Sonata No.1 in F major, Op.6
01. I. Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco (5:46)
02. II. Andantino semplice (5:42)
03. III. Vivo – Allegro molto (6:59)

Piano Sonata No.2 in E flat major, Op.45
04. I. Allegro moderato – Festivamente (8:12)
05. II. Andante sostenuto (8:24)
06. III. Presto assai (7:19)

Piano Sonata No.3 in F major, Op.46
07. I. Allegro con moto (5:51)
08. II. Andante cantabile (5:36)
09. III. Allegro giocoso (4:54)

Piano Sonatina in C major, Op.13 No.1
10. I. Allegro assai e lusingando (2:41)
11. II. Andantino (2:36)
12. III. Presto (1:53)

Piano Sonatina in G minor, Op.13 No.2
13. I. Allegro non troppo – Risoluto (2:56)
14. II. Sostenuto (2:41)
15. III. Vivace (2:44)

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log date: 2018-10-18 19:15:38

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Analyzed: Alexandre Dossin / Kabalevsky – Piano Sonatas
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DR Peak RMS Duration Track
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DR14 -1.43 dB -21.97 dB 5:46 01-Piano Sonata No.1 in F major, Op.6 – I. Allegro non troppo ma con fuoco
DR14 -3.07 dB -23.63 dB 5:42 02-Piano Sonata No.1 in F major, Op.6 – II. Andantino semplice
DR13 -2.09 dB -20.87 dB 6:59 03-Piano Sonata No.1 in F major, Op.6 – III. Vivo – Allegro molto
DR12 -1.39 dB -18.23 dB 8:12 04-Piano Sonata No.2 in E flat major, Op.45 – I. Allegro moderato – Festivamente
DR15 -2.18 dB -24.12 dB 8:24 05-Piano Sonata No.2 in E flat major, Op.45 – II. Andante sostenuto
DR12 -1.57 dB -18.25 dB 7:19 06-Piano Sonata No.2 in E flat major, Op.45 – III. Presto assai
DR14 -1.45 dB -19.96 dB 5:51 07-Piano Sonata No.3 in F major, Op.46 – I. Allegro con moto
DR14 -2.97 dB -24.34 dB 5:36 08-Piano Sonata No.3 in F major, Op.46 – II. Andante cantabile
DR13 -2.24 dB -19.30 dB 4:54 09-Piano Sonata No.3 in F major, Op.46 – III. Allegro giocoso
DR13 -3.62 dB -21.55 dB 2:41 10-Piano Sonatina in C major, Op.13 No.1 – I. Allegro assai e lusingando
DR12 -8.79 dB -27.69 dB 2:36 11-Piano Sonatina in C major, Op.13 No.1 – II. Andantino
DR11 -4.81 dB -20.69 dB 1:53 12-Piano Sonatina in C major, Op.13 No.1 – III. Presto
DR14 -1.89 dB -20.24 dB 2:56 13-Piano Sonatina in G minor, Op.13 No.2 – I. Allegro non troppo – Risoluto
DR13 -6.13 dB -26.41 dB 2:41 14-Piano Sonatina in G minor, Op.13 No.2 – II. Sostenuto
DR12 -2.66 dB -18.95 dB 2:44 15-Piano Sonatina in G minor, Op.13 No.2 – III. Vivace
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 15
Official DR value: DR13

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 481 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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